Decorating leather



Sept. 13, 1938. w. H. BARRETT DECORATING LEATHER Filed April 9, 1935 ff.e mw i MQ im roew Nfr/,M- R A L D O W5 0 E 5f T Amun r Lf. 5R N rfv@wamww E 0 l URMO W0 ME V co/al mf/0 m uw MWMTQAZS,

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 13, 1938 PATENT GFFCE DECORATING LEATHERWilliam H. Barrett, Brooklyn, N. Y., assigner to Leather DesignsIncorporated, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationAprill 9', 1935',` Serial No. 15,404

14 Claims.

My invention relates tol decorating leather by the conjoint use ofembossing and surface effects such as are obtainedv by the use of color,bufling, blocking, etc. Broadly it provides means for obtaining some newresults, improved forms of some old results, and a substantially uniformcolor effect with a certain method of embossing.

It can be employed to decorate theV grain side or the flesh side, andwith splits as well as whole skins, certain peculiar effects areobtained by applying it to the grain side, orY to a simulated grain.Generally speaking, two methods of embossing leather are known. In theolder of these methods the embossment is direct, as it were; that is tosay', a plate or roll carrying a negative of the design desired on thefinished leather is pressed against the side of the leather to be the'face side', and thereby the portions. of the leather surface which areto be in intaglio in the finished leather are depressed initially tosubstantially their final positions. In the newer embossing method alsothe material is pressed by plates or rolls carrying the design. In thisnewer process however, the embossing plate or roll may carry either apositivel or a negative of the design that is to appear on the finishedleather (depending on the particular form of the process employed), andafter the leather has been pressed and initially embossed by the plateor roll the initial reliefs resulting from this operation are removed toa greater or lesser extent, as by a cutting operation of some kind, andthen the leather is moistened to swell it back, i. e. restore it to moreor less of a uniform or its initial density. As a result, portions ofthe surface left standing in relief initially by the plate or roll inthis newer embossingl method, appear in the final product at more nearlythe general level of the leather surface, or may even be in deepintaglio'.

My invention contemplates the use of the secondv or newer method ofembossing in conjunction with operations producing surface effects, suchas coloring and tooling, performed subsequent to the initial embossing,and usually per- ,4 formed subsequent to the step of removing theinitial reliefs produced by the action of the embossing plate or roll(or in the case of some tooling operations, performed simultaneouslywith the step of removing initial reliefs) in some instances it employsa coloring operation performed, preferably, subsequent to the moisteningof the leather to swell it back. One such coloring operation alone maybe used, or such an operation may be supplemented by another coloringoperationY at the same or another stage of the embossing processdepending on theeifect desired. Likewise one such tooling operation willobtain certain effects, while other effects can be obtained bysupplementing this tooling by other tooling operation-s. Or bothcoloring and tool- 5 ing' moerations` may be used on the same piece ofleather at the same or different stages.

Withthe older embossing method color is applied to leather in variousways.; for example, by spraying (say with a liquid dye) and by swabbing,printing, stencilling and tipping; the latter is swabbing an embossedsurface gently, say with aliquid dye, so that only the reliefs arecolored by the operation. Dyeing also is employed; I herein use the termdyeing as meaning the operation of dipping or immersing the piece inliquid dye; whenI immersed the piece may or may not be padel-led,y or itmay be drummed (if. e. tumbled in a revolving vat). The foregoingindicate the kinds of coloring operations that can be used withV myinvention'. Conceivably japanning, lacquer-ing. or the like may be usedin certain instances as will be apparent. Also with the older embossingmethod leather is tooled in various ways; for example, by buffing (as bya bufng wheel), and by scumng, sandpapering, blocking (which is rubbingwith sandpaper fastened to a block), by plush wheeling, polishing, etc.These indicatethe type of tooling operations that can be used with myinvention. 30

Subsequent to the initial embossing by the plate or roll, and prior tothe cutting away of initial reliefs, color can be applied to the initialreliefsv and intaglios by any method that does not introduce so'muchmoisture to theV leather as tov swell it unduly; for example, byspraying or swabbing. This tends to produce a contrasting eifect in thefinished leather, since the cutting away of reliefs tends to exposewhatever color the leather may have below its surface while the colorapplied tothe initial intaglios remains undisturbedy or is lessdisturbed than that applied to the initial reliefs. Likewise subsequentto the cutting of. the reliefs and prior to moistening for swelling` theleather, color can be applied over 45 the whole face side of the leatheruniformly, or substantially uniformly over an individual part orl partsof the face, by any method that does not introduce an undue amount ofmoisture to the leather; for example by spraying, swabbing, 50 printingor stencilling. This tends to produce a uniformly colored face for thefinished leather. Herein theV phrase uniformly colored and the like isused to indicate that the coloring is substantially uniform over thewhole or such parts 55 of the surface as are colored by the operation,within intaglios as well as on reliefs, except as the color effect tothe eye may seem to vary from place to place due to differences inphysical structure of the face surface or otherwise. At the same stage,i. e. subsequent to cutting reliefs and before swelling, color can beapplied as by dyeing; this operation introduces considerable moisture tothe leather however and thus tends to swell it; dyeing therefore, whenrequired, I prefer to do at a later stage. At the same stage also,providing the cutting leaves some portions of the initial reliefsstanding, tipping can be employed. This provides for, say, a contrastingcolor on parts of the surface that sink down with the swellingoperation; if the leather is moistened to such a degree that these partscome to be intaglios, then this tipping operation provides for obtaininga desired color in the intaglio depths. After the step of moistening theleather to swell it back, the leather may be dyed, i. e. colored byimmersion or by dipping as before mentioned. This produces a uniformlycolored effect with as deep a dye penetration into the body of theleather as is possible.

As before indicated, such coloring operations can be supplemented byothers to produce certain effects. For example, the leather may becolored uniformly before the initial embossment by the plate or roll asby dyeing, spraying, etc., and then after the step of cutting4 reliefsagain uniformly colored by an operation appropriate to this stage asdescribed above. This produces in the finished product intaglios coloredby the second coloring operation and reliefs colored in accordance withthe joint effects of the two coloring operations. Again, the leather maybe uniformly colored prior to the initial embossment, and then aftercutting the initial reliefs away partially it may be tipped. Thisproduces a final product in which the reliefs are colored in accordancewith the first coloring operation and the intaglios by the second. Stillagain, the leather may be colored uniformly prior to embossment by theplate or roll, and then after swelling it may be uniformly colored againas by dyeing. This produces a finished product in which the color at theintaglios depends on the penetration of they first coloring operationand the depth of the cutting operation, and the color on the reliefs isthe color of the second coloring operation or the joint effect of bothcoloring operations. Also, about the same joint effects can be producedby performing the first coloring operation after the initial embossmentand before cutting of the reliefs; spraying, swabbing and the like arebest adapted for a first coloring operation at this stage. Also, afterinitial reliefs have been partially cut away the leather may be tipped,and after swelling may be tipped a second time, or may be coloreduniformly by dyeing, spraying, etc. When the second coloring is tipping,the finished product has distinctly different surface colorings in thefinal intaglios and on the final reliefs; and when the second coloringis a uni` form one, the reliefs of the final pro-duct have the color ofthe second coloring operation and the intaglios may exhibit jointeffects of the two coloring operations. Also again, after the initialreliefs have been cut, the face may be uniformly colored, preferably asby spraying, swabbing, etc., and then after swelling the leather may betipped, or it may be colored uniformly. When the second operation is bytipping, the intaglios of the finished product have the color of thefirst operainitial reliefs left by the embossing plate or roll, A

the tops of the remains of the initial reliefs may be buffed; in thealternative, the cutting away of the initial reliefs to a material depthmay be done entirely by buffing. In either case, (the initial intagliosurfaces being untouched by the buffing) the tops of the reliefs of thefinished leather consist of the initial surface of the leather, having arather hard, shiny appearance if on theA grain side, while the finishedintaglios have a soft suede appearance and surface. Again, prior toembossing by the plate or roll the whole ofthe leather face may bebuffed, and then after initial reliefs have been cut away partially, thetops of the remains of the reliefs may be buffed; or in the alternativethe cutting away of initial reliefs may be done entirely by buffing. Ineither case this procedure permits, in effect, separate and independenttooling of the intaglios and the reliefs of the-finished product andaccordingly the production of either, say, similar or entirely differentresults on the two surfaces. Instead of doing the second buifmg on theinitial relief portions only however, the bufling may be carried down toand on to the surface of the initial intaglios also; the effect at thetops of the final reliefs is then the joint effect, more or less, of thetwo toolings. Generally, however, I prefer operations which permitentirely separate and independent toolings of the intaglio and reliefportions, since this permits better control of the work. Again, afterthe initial reliefs have been cut away in part, the remains of thesereliefs may be buffed (or in the alternative the cutting may be byb-ufiing), and then after swelling the tops Vof the final reliefs may bebuffed. This operation also, it will be observed, permits separate andindependent tooling, in effect, of the final intaglios and reliefs.Still again, after the initial embossing (and with or withoutpreliminary cutting of initial reliefs) both the initial intaglioportions and the initial relief portions of thev leather may be buffed,and then after swellng the final reliefs may be buifed. The surfaces ofthe final intaglios are then products of the first bufling and thesurfaces of the final reliefs are products of both toolings.

As before indicated, both coloring and tooling may be employed on thesaine piece of leather, and a number of combinations of these arepossible. A few important examples will suffice: After the initialembossing of the grain side of the leather by the plate or roll (andeither before cutting or after partial cutting away of the initialreliefs), the tops of the initial reliefs may be buffed (Without buffingof the initial intaglios), and then after swelling at least the faceside of the leather may be colored uniformly, for example by dyeing. Thefinal product is then uniformly Colored, the tops of the final reliefsare bright and shiny, and the filial intaglios have a suede surface.Again, after initial embossing by the plate or roll (on either side ofthe leather) the initial reliefs may be buffed, then after swelling atleast the face surface of the leather may be colored uniformly with atleast some material degree of penetration, and then the tops of the nalreliefs bued. With most colors (dyes) this produces a satisfactorytwo-tone coloring effect, both the final reliefs and final' intagliosbeing in suede. For entirely-suede blacks however, I prefer thisprocedure: Prior to initial embossment, buff the entire face side; afterthe initial embossing buff the initial reliefs; after swelling give auniform. coloring, preferably by dyeing.

It will be observed of course that various of the specific proceduresdescribed above are applicable only when the swelling of the leather bymoisture subsequent to the cutting of reliefs is so complete thatinitial intaglios appear as reliefs in the nished leather. In this andsome other respects I have described my invention above as employingwhat I regard as the best form of the new embossing process. Variousforms of the newer embossing process are known however; so far as theseare known to me, all can be employed with my invention, in someinstances with some variation in the procedure as will be apparent.

The matter below and the accompanying drawing describe anddiagrammatically illustrate in greater detail some of the proceduresdescribed above. Fig. l illustrates a piece of leather decorated by myinvention; specifically, embossed and uniformly colored. Fig. 2 is adiagrammatic illustration of an embossing roll such as may be used toproduce the embossment ofFig. l. Figs. 3 and 4 illustratediagrammatically successive steps in the operation, a piece of leatherbeing shown in section. Fig. 5 illustrates diagrammatically coloring theleather by spraying. Fig. d illustrates diagrammatically the result ofthorough moistening and swelling the leather of Fig. 4. Fig. '7illustrates diagrammatically coloring by dyeing. Fig. 8 illustratestipping the reliefs with color as a possible additional step.

For illustrative purposes the very simple decoration shown in Fig. lwill suffice. 'I'his` consists simply of a diamond 2 risingv from or inrelief on the surface of the skin i, the whole of this face of theleather, i. e. the top and sides ofthe diamond as well as the major partof the surface which is in intaglio to the diamond 2, being dyed somecolor. The whole of the leather may be dyed the same color,substantially from side to side throughout. As appears from theforegoing to produce such a relief as 2 on theface or exposed surface, Iinitially depress below this surface of the leather, by compression, thefour bars forming the diamond. The leather may first be wetted or driedas may be necessary to get it into a condition suiting it to take andhold this initial compression and embossing, and for' the subsequentoperations; usually I have the leather about as dry as it can be andstill take the marking or initial embossing without deleterious effect.I'his reverse or initial embossing can be done manually for example;commercially it can be done by a positive of the pattern, for example aplate or roll 3 carrying a similar diamond 4' projecting in relief fromthe surface of the plate or rcll (Fig. 2) exactly as it is to appear onthe finished leather. With such a roll for example, the piece of leatheris laid against a firm ground and the roll is passed over it (Fig. 3)with enough pressure to sink the diamond into the leather to a sufcientdepth to secure that degree of compacting of the leather beneath thebars of the diamond that is needed to secure the ultimatev projection ofthe diamond from the leather surface desired, as will be understood fromwhat follows. hereafter. In Figs. 3 and 4 the compacting. of the leatherbeneath a part of one bar of the diamond is indicated at 5.

A negative of the design having thus been formed on the face of theleather, more or less of the initial relief thus produced is then cutaway; the relief or reliefs may be cut away to a level even with thebottoms of the depressions as shown in Fig. 4; the broken lines indicatethe amount of leather usually cut away with this particular form of thisembossing method; compare Fig. 4 with Fig. 3. The leather to be cut awaymay be removed by bufng or otherwise; when removed by buifing, or whenthe surface is buffed after cutting, the bottoms of the intaglio orsunken portions of the final product are left roughened and hence have asuede-like effect.

At this stage the leather may be colored if desired; for example byswabbing, spraying with a suitable liquid color by means of a suitablespray-throwing device by printing, etc. (Fig. 5) ;v preferably thecoloring matter is a dye, so that the surface is dyed to the desiredcolor.

The leather having been cut or re-surfaced, and perhaps colored, thecompacted portions are permitted or caused to expand until theseportionsagain have, say, the same density as the remainder of the piece. Theresult is that the portions of the design depressed into the leathersurface by the initial depressing or embossing rise to say their initiallevels and thus appear in the relief inthe final product (Figs. 6 andl). The swelling can be done by subjecting the leather to any swellingagent not adversely affecting the leather for its intended purposes.conceivably the swelling agent or some part of it may be present in orapplied to the leather even prior to the initial embossing, but Icontemplate that usually it will be applied only after the surface iscut away. Usually I use moisture for the purpose; plain water issatisfactory for most leathers. Since I usually do the initial embossingon a rather dry leather, I usually swell the com pacted portions intorelief by thoroughly wetting the leather in water; usually by paddlingthe leather in water for sufficient time to restore the piece to auniform density.

If the color is applied immediately after the step of removing relief asdescribed above, the whole face of the leather, i. e. the top of therelief 2r and the intaglio surface at a lower level exhibitssubstantially the same color effect; except of course as this effect tothe eye may seem to vary somewhat from point to point due to differencesin physical structure of the leather surface or otherwise. In thealternative substantially the same surface result can be secured and atthe same time the leather dyed deeply into its body, by omitting thecoloring step described (Fig. 5), and, after the moistening step (Fig.6), dyeing theV embossed leather by repeatedly dipping it into liquiddye, or by immersing it in a vat l of liquid dye, with or withoutpaddling or drumming (Fig. 7). Conceivably both the coloring operationsof Fig. 5 and Fig. 'I may be employed to produce, in conjunction, somespecial effect.

Thereafter the leather can be nished further if and as desired, invarious ways. For example, a broad surface coloring having been given tothe leather by either of the two operations described above (Fig. 5 orFig. '7) the leather may be tipped with another color, i. e. swabbedlightly with another color so as to color only the top or tops of therelief or reliefs 2 (Fig. 8). This will produce a leather having onecolor at or in the intaglios 8 and another color on the reliefs 2 as at9.

To obtain a uniformly colored embossed leather having rather shiny topsurfaces on the reliefs and suede at the intaglios, the initialembossment (Fig. 3) may be on the grain side of the leather; the cuttingof the initial reliefs (Fig. 4) may be done by bufling, care being takennot to buff deeply enough for the buflng wheel to strike the initialintaglios; and the coloring may be by dyeing (Fig. '7) after the leatherhas been swelled to obtain the final reliefs (Fig. 6).

The procedure described above for obtaining a two tone suede for mostcolors may be carried out by cutting the initial reliefs (Fig. 4), asdeeply as desired, by bufnng; then swelling to develop the final reliefs(Fig. 6) then dyeing (Fig. 7); and then bufling the top surfaces of thefinal reliefs indicated by 2 in Fig. 6.

Another procedure for obtaining a two tone suede is this: Prior to theinitial embossing of Fig. 3, uniformly color the side to be the face ofthe finished piece by dyeing (Fig. 7), spraying (Fig. 5) or otherwise,without attempting to get exceptional penetration; then after initialembossing (Fig. 3), buff away the initial reliefs (Fig. 4) and buff theinitial intaglios also; then swell to develop the final reliefs (Fig.6). The final intaglios then display a lighter shade of the color thanthe final reliefs.

Also suede on the entire surface with color can be obtained by cuttingthe initial reliefs (Fig. 4), as deeply as needed by buing; thenswelling to develop the final reliefs (Fig. 6) then bufng the topsurfaces of the final reliefs shown at 2 in Fig. 6; and then dyeing(Fig. '7).

As indicated above however, I prefer the following for entirely-suedeblacks: Prior to the initial embossment (the operation of Fig. 3), buffthe entire surface that is to be the face of the leather; then emboss(Fig. 3), and then buff the initial reliefs away more or less (Fig. 4);then swell the leather, and then give a uniform coloring, preferably bydyeing (Fig. 7).

In all cases, except where no contrast or the greatest possible sheen orshiny effect on the tops of the final reliefs is desired, the tops ofthe final reliefs may be buffed or similarly tooled slightly as a finaloperation, even when these reliefs have been sueded already; this tendsto give a rather pleasing contrasting effect.

It will be understood of course that my invention is not limited tothese specific operations and details except as appears hereinafter inthe claims.

I claim:

l. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs and intagliosthereon, then removing at least portions of the initial reliefs, andthen moistening the leather to restore it more or less to its initialdensity and performing an operation producing a surface-effect on theface of the leather, said operation producing a surface effect beingperformed either before or subsequent to said moistening of the leather.

2. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs and intagliosthereon, then removing at least portions of the initial reliefs andperforming an operation producing a surface-effect on the face of theleather, and thereafter moistening the leather to restore it more orless to its initial density.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 in combina.- tion with performing asecond operation producing a surface-effect, said second operation beingperformed subsequent to the moistening of the leather.

4. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressingleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs and intagliosthereon, then removing at least portions of the initial reliefs, andthen moistening the leather to restore it more or less to its initialdensity and applying color to at least one side of the leather, theoperation of applying color being performed either before or subsequentto said moistening of the leather.

5. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs and intagliosthereon, then removing at least portions of the initial reliefs, thenapplying color to at least one side of the leather, and thereaftermoistening the leather to restore it more or less to its initialdensity.

6. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs and intagliosthereon, then removing at least portions of the initial reliefs, thenmoistening the leather to restore it more or less to its initialdensity, and thereafter dyeing the leather.

7. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs andintaglios, bufling the initial reliefs without materially buffinginitial intaglio portions, then swelling the leather, and then applyingcolor substantially uniformly to the leather.

8. The method of decorating leather which consists in compressing theleather with an embossed member to produce initial reliefs andintaglios, bufhng the initial reliefs, then swelling the leather, thenapplying color, and then buffmg onthe top surfaces of the reliefsresulting from the swelling.

9. The method of decorating leather which consists in buffng the faceside of the leather, then compressing the leather with an embossedmember to produce initial reliefs and intaglios, bufng the initialreliefs, then swelling the leather, and then applying color to theleather.

10. A process of ornamenting grain-leather comprising the steps ofembossing a design on grain-leather, removing the grain surface from thehigh spots of the design, obliterating the embossing and dyeing theleather.

11. The process of ornamenting grain-leather comprising the steps offorming on the surface of grain-leather a design having high and lowportions, removing the grain surface from the high portions of thedesign, and wetting and dyeing the leather to give it the desired colorand show the surface of the grain above the remaining portion.

12. In a leather ornamenting process, the steps of bufiing off the grainsurface from portions of grain leather without disturbing the remainingportions of said grain surface, and dyeing the buffed and unbuffedportions of the leather with dye of one color, whereby the more porousbuffed portions will be given a relatively deep shade of said color andwill possess a suede-like appearance, and the less porous unbuifedportions will be given a relatively light shade of the same will possessa suede-like appearance, and the less porous unbuffed relief portionswill be given a relatively light shade of the same color and willmaintain their grain surface, thereby combining suede and grain leatherin contrasting shades of the same color with the grain in relief uponthe suede.

14. A method of treating leather, Which comprises embossing a design onthe grain side, bufng 01T the raised portions of the grain surface, 10

and submerging the leather in a liquid dye.

WILLIAM H. BARRETT.

